The mission of Child Soldier Relief Foundation (CSR), a 501 (c)(3) non-profit, tax-exempt organization designated by the Internal Revenue Code, is to advocate on behalf of child soldiers by serving as a central repository of information on all topics relating to the topic of child soldiers.

Chuckie Taylor (President Taylor’s son) convicted of war crimes

…by a U.S. federal jury in Miami, Florida last week. Charles McArthur Emmanuel, aka Charles Taylor Jr., aka “Chuckie” Taylor is former Liberian President Charles Taylor’s son and was convicted on October 30 on “torture, firearms and conspiracy charges on the second day of jury deliberations.”

Boston-born Chuckie Taylor is the first person to be convicted under the new law.

Human Rights Watch had been pressing the U.S. Justice Department for some time to try Chuckie Taylor under the 1994 law. Back in 2006, HRW stated, “Federal laws on torture and war crimes committed abroad have been on the books for years, but we don’t know of a single person who has been prosecuted for them. How serious can the U.S. be about justice when these laws have never been used to hold our own citizens to account? With ‘Chuckie’ Taylor in custody, this is an ideal moment to wield this authority.”

The 1994 law is similar to the the Child Soldier’s Accountability Act of 2007 where persons on U.S. soil can be tried for crimes committed overseas. Instead of addressing torture, the Child Soldier’s Accountability Act deals with child soldier recruitment.

This conviction marks a new chapter for holding war criminals accountable for their actions. We look forward to the seeing the Child Soldier’s Accountability Act used in the same way.

One Response

You have a very fine organization. Keep up the good work. Many people are working in the same line of work as your organization. It’s also easy to note the simularities in organized crime recruitment, drug gangs, and human traffickers.